No Executions in Illinois Until System Is Repaired

By DIRK JOHNSON

Published: May 21, 2000

CHICAGO, May 20—
Four months after he rekindled the death penalty debate by imposing a moratorium on executions in Illinois, Gov. George Ryan now says he strongly doubts any inmates will be put to death while he remains in office.

The governor, a Republican, has appointed a commission to study ways to fix problems with the death penalty, but says he will not go ahead with executions unless the panel can give him ''a 100 percent guarantee'' against any mistaken convictions.

''I don't know if we'll ever go back to the death penalty as we knew it, as long as I'm governor,'' Mr. Ryan said in an interview on Friday. The governor halted executions in the state after 13 men were sent to death row before being exonerated by new evidence. ''If this commission comes back and says we can't give you a 100 percent guarantee, if they can't tell me the system will be flawless, I've got an obligation to say that I can't go ahead.''

The action by Mr. Ryan, a longtime proponent of capital punishment, has helped to renew the national debate on the death penalty. In imposing the moratorium, Mr. Ryan had described the capital punishment system as ''so fraught with error'' and said it ''has come so close to the ultimate nightmare, the state's taking of innocent life.''

A national survey in February found support for the death penalty at 66 percent, its lowest level in 19 years. Some 12 states have seen legislation introduced this year to halt executions. On Thursday, the Legislature in New Hampshire voted to abolish capital punishment, the first state to pass such a bill since the Supreme Court allowed executions to resume nearly 24 years ago. The governor of New Hampshire, Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, vetoed the measure on Friday.

The death penalty commission appointed by Governor Ryan will examine the cases that led to wrongful convictions in Illinois. The panel is being led by Frank McGarr, a former federal judge, Thomas Sullivan, a former United States attorney, and Paul Simon, a former Democratic senator. William Webster, the former director of central intelligence and of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, will be a special adviser to the commission.

The commission includes law enforcement officials, prosecutors, defense lawyers, a businessman and the novelist Scott Turow, among others.

Mr. Simon, a death penalty opponent, said it was difficult to imagine that the panel could deliver an iron-clad guarantee to Governor Ryan that, even with certain improvements in the legal system, no innocent person would be convicted of a capital crime.

''It is possible we'll come to the conclusion that there's no way to salvage the death penalty,'' Mr. Simon said. But he said he was speaking for himself, not the commission, and added that a majority of the 14 members on the panel support capital punishment.

The governor did not give the panel a timetable for its recommendations. But Mr. Simon said the three chairmen agreed to finish the work and deliver findings within about six months.

Mr. Simon said the commission would focus largely on the legal representation given to people on death row, who are often indigent.

The death penalty, after years of being seen as something of a dead letter in American politics, has lately spawned increasing debate. There are 3,600 people on death rows nationwide, and 87 death row inmates have been freed since 1973.

Gov. George W. Bush of Texas, who is expected to be the Republican nominee for president, has said he strongly believes that no innocent person has been executed in his state, which leads the nation in executions.

Despite polls showing that a majority of Americans favor the death penalty, Governor Ryan said he received much more praise than criticism for imposing a moratorium. ''A lot of people are telling me it was the right thing to do,'' he said.

Richard Dieter, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said notable concerns about executions have been voiced lately by conservatives, including Pat Robertson, the television evangelist, Oliver L. North, the former Senate candidate, and George Will, the columnist. Tom Osborne, the Republican nominee in the Nebraska Senate race, has taken a strong stance against the death penalty.

''A lot has happened since Governor Ryan's moratorium,'' Mr. Dieter said. ''It's hard to imagine that what happened in Illinois, especially the wrongful convictions, hasn't had some effect on what people are thinking.''

Photo: Gov. George Ryan fears the death penalty will take an innocent life. (Associated Press)